Here’s a roundup of the latest features and updates we’ve recently released.

If you have any particular feature requests or enhancement ideas that you would like to see, please get in touch with us.

Major announcements

ClickHouse®

Instaclustr for ClickHouse® on Azure is now generally available

We’re excited to announce that Instaclustr for ClickHouse® continued its momentum after GA in November 2024 on AWS, and is now fully available on Microsoft Azure. Customers can now enjoy lightning-fast queries, robust compression, and advanced new features while leveraging their existing Azure credits and billing arrangements through integration with the Azure Marketplace.

Apache Kafka®

Automated migrating Apache Kafka clusters from ZooKeeper to KRaft

Apache Kafka has made a significant architectural shift with the introduction of Kafka Raft (KRaft) mode, eliminating the dependency on Apache ZooKeeper for metadata management. ZooKeeper has been deprecated since Kafka 3.5.0 and has been removed in version 4.0, replaced by KRaft mode. KRaft enables Kafka nodes to self-manage metadata and leader elections, resulting in improved performance, scalability, and lower latency—making migration essential. Unlike manual migration, which is often error-prone and disruptive, NetApp Instaclustr’s automated migration process simplifies the transition, minimizing risk and downtime. Migrate now to keep your streaming platform robust, compatible, and focused on maximizing Kafka’s capabilities.

Instaclustr Managed Platform

Stay in control: New notifications with the NetApp Instaclustr Maintenance Event System

NetApp now offers Customer Configurable Notification Preferences and Slack webhook integration for the Instaclustr Maintenance Events System. Customers can choose to receive cluster maintenance notifications via email or Slack, tailored per account. This flexible system enhances visibility and control over maintenance communications for all Instaclustr Managed Platform, ensuring targeted, meaningful, and timely updates at no additional cost.

Public Preview release of Zero Inbound Access

Zero Inbound Access clusters provide our most secure management connectivity option, removing the requirement to expose any components directly to the internet.

Unlike Private Network clusters, or Public Network clusters, Zero Inbound Access eliminates the requirement for any routable public IP addresses in the customer deployment—including the bastion or gateway instance.

Other significant changes

Apache Cassandra®

  • Released Apache Cassandra 4.1.9 into General Availability on the NetApp Instaclustr Managed Platform.
  • Support for i4g node sizes and the new r7g and r8g families of EBS throughput and IOPS optimized instances for Apache Cassandra has been added to the platform.
  • The default network_authorizer for all Apache Cassandra 4+ clusters on the Instaclustr platform has been changed to CassandraNetworkAuthorizer, enabling users to restrict access to specific data centers.
  • Cassandra 3 End of Life has been announced for November 30, 2025, on the NetApp Instaclustr Platform. We strongly recommend that customers currently using Cassandra version 3.x plan upgrades to avoid disruption

Apache Kafka®

ClickHouse®

Cadence®

  • The Cadence packaged solution is updated to use the latest version of Apache Cassandra 4.1.9.
  • Cadence Web 4.0 is now generally available.
  • Cadence has been updated to 1.3.2.

OpenSearch®

PostgreSQL®

Instaclustr Managed Platform

  • Support for Thailand (ap-southeast-7) region in Amazon Web Services has been added to the NetApp Instaclustr Managed Platform.

Upcoming releases

Apache Kafka®

  • We’re preparing to launch Kafka Tiered Storage on GCP soon. This will align our feature set with AWS, enabling more cost-effective, long-term data retention for Kafka users on GCP.

Cadence®

ClickHouse®

  • We are preparing to introduce a new feature that will support adding an Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSxN) as a data source for your ClickHouse cluster.
  • We are working to add support for AWS-hosted RIIA ClickHouse clusters to be able to make use of Tiered Storage functionality.

PostgreSQL®

  • PostgreSQL with Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP (FSxN) will soon be available on the NetApp Instaclustr Managed Platform. This new feature enhances scalability and reduces infrastructure costs by extending the NetApp Instaclustr PostgreSQL offering to leverage FSxN storage.
  • AWS PrivateLink integration for PostgreSQL will be available soon as an Enterprise feature. This enhancement will provide secure, private VPC connectivity through a dedicated load balancer and endpoint service.

OpenSearch®

  • ML Commons is coming soon to Instaclustr’s Managed OpenSearch. This feature is set to streamline the integration and management of machine learning models, providing users with easier access to advanced data analysis and enhanced search functionalities.

Instaclustr Managed Platform

  • We’re already underway developing our General Availability release of Zero Inbound Access, which will include features such as Production SLA’s, PCI compliance, and migration of existing Private Network clusters.
  • The upcoming Custom Tags Management feature will allow users to add, edit, or delete tags for their clusters directly through the Instaclustr console, APIs, or Terraform provider for RIYOA deployments.

Did you know?

If you have any questions or need further assistance with these enhancements to the Instaclustr Managed Platform, please contact us.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT: Any unreleased services or features referenced in this blog are not currently available and may not be made generally available on time or at all, as may be determined in NetApp’s sole discretion. Any such referenced services or features do not represent promises to deliver, commitments, or obligations of NetApp and may not be incorporated into any contract. Customers should make their purchase decisions based upon services and features that are currently generally available.